Late last week Health Canada quietly removed a federal prohibition on prescription heroin. This means hospitals and hospital outreach facilities can once again legally prescribe heroin. Of course, this can only happen, under controlled settings and with special federal permission, for people in chronic pain and for people with chronic illnesses. And prescription heroin is [...]
SALOME has already been making a difference in the lives of real people with chronic heroin addictions in Vancouver's Downtown East Side (DTES). The research began in 2009 and the results are significant- not just for the DTES but for the province as a whole.
The Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME) is a clinical trial that tests alternative treatments for people with chronic heroin addiction who are not benefitting sufficiently from current known treatments. SALOME compares two similar medications – diacetylmorphine, the active ingredient of heroin, and HDM. This study will also test if those effectively treated [...]
